About 150 Extinction Rebellion protesters arrested on A12 in The Hague

The A12 near The Hague in the direction of Utrecht is open again, according to the national travel association ANWB. The road was closed by a blockade of climate activists from Extinction Rebellion, who had been blocking the road since noon Saturday to protest against subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. The blockade was ended m in the meantime, but, the Utrechtsebaan to the city is still closed.

According to Extinction Rebellion, there were several hundred protesters at the location. The police ordered them to leave and move the protest to the Malieveld, a huge area opposite the central station in The Hague, to demonstrate there instead of on the highway.

The live stream from the climate activists showed that the police gave the group a first warning just before 12.30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. One demonstrator was arrested almost immediately after the start of the demonstration and taken away by the police.

The police continued to arrest dozens of demonstrators, as could be seen on images from the activist group. The demonstrators were taken by bus to the police station to be processed, but it was not immediately clear how many people were arrested in total, a spokeswoman said.

"We will not let ourselves be sent away to the Malieveld until our wish has been granted. Arrests will be made," the group said on the live stream.

At the moment, the police are still clearing the road and demonstrators who had sat down on the road and glued themselves to it with buses. The police rinsed the hands of the demonstrators with bottles of cola to dissolve the glue. It is still unclear how long the evacuation will take, according to the police.

The municipality of The Hague said on Twitter it would facilitate demonstrations as much as possible. "Danger to demonstrators, bystanders or traffic is not allowed. That is why the mayor has banned the blockade of the A12 motorway."

The climate action was right next to the temporary building of the Tweede Kamer and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. According to Extinction Rebellion, this is the fourth time in a short time that demonstrations have been held at this location.